Leaf-miner: The
larva of this species creates a gallery mine. The mine is similar
to those of the alder-feeding Nepticulidae, but is generally shorter,
with the larval exit-hole on the upperside of the leaf rather than
the underside. After vacating the mine, the larva grazes on the
underside of the leaf in the manner of other Bucculatricidae (UKMoths).
Short
and narrow corridor, starting at an oval, iridescent egg shell that
is usually placed at the leaf underside, close to a thick vein.
The larval chamber is more than three times as long as wide and
is vacated through an upper surface exit slit. Frass in a narrow
central black line; when the mine is made in Bog-Myrtle the thick
frass line almost fills the corridor. Older larvae live free and
cause window-feeding (Bladmineerders van Europa).
The
mine is also illustrated in British
leafminers.
Larva: The larvae of moths have a head capsule and chewing mouthparts with opposable mandibles (see video of a gracillarid larva feeding), six thoracic legs and abdominal legs (see examples).
The mining larvae have well-developed thoracic legs, that distinguish
them from those of the Stigmella's mining on Alder (Bladmineerders van Europa). The
larva is also illustrated in British
leafminers.
Pupa: The pupae of moths have visible head appendages, wings and legs which lie in sheaths (see examples).
The larva pupates in a cocoon and is illustrated in British
leafminers.
Adult:
The adult is illustrated in UKMoths by Adriaan Peeters.
The species is included in mothdissection.co.uk.
Hosts in Great Britain and Ireland:
Hosts
elsewhere:
Time
of year - larvae: August and September (UKMoths;
British
leafminers).
Time
of year - adults: May and June, sometimes with a second generation
in August (UKMoths).
Distribution
in Great Britain and Ireland: Distributed widely across much
of the British Isles, though not always common (UKMoths),
including Hampshire (Fleet), Suffolk (British
leafminers); Anglesey, Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire,
Carmarthenshire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Derbyshgire, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Durham, East Cornwall, East Kent, East Norfolk, East Suffolk, East Sutherland, Glamorgan, Huntingdonshire, Isle of Wight, Main Argyll, Merionethshire, North Aberdeenshire, North Somerset, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, South Aberdeenshire,
South Hampshire, South Northumberland, South Wiltshire, Stafford, Stirlingshire, Warwickshire, West Cornwall, West Norfolk, West Suffolk and Westmorland and Worcestershire (NBN
Atlas) and Ireland
(Fauna Europaea).
See also British
leafminers distribution map.
Also recorded in the Republic of Ireland (National Biodiversity Data Centre Map).
Distribution
elsewhere: Widespread in continental Europe including Austria,
Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Danish mainland, Estonia,
Finland, French mainland, Germany, Hungary, Italian mainland, Kaliningrad
Region, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norwegian mainland, Poland,
Romania, Russia - Central, East and Northwest, Sardinia, ? Sicily,
Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine and Yugoslavia
(Fauna Europaea).
NBN Atlas links to known host species:
British and Irish Parasitoids in Britain and elsewhere:
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